The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Details
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Information
The reward packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
